Raashh Decisions (Xxan War Book 3) (23 page)

****

“You understand what will happen?” Arren asked.

Sandy nodded. Arren’s description of the Xxanian custom of bathing a new female member of the nest didn’t sound all that disturbing to her—certainly no more disturbing than communal steam rooms were and less overt than the private dining rooms at Xxanian restaurants were—but they seemed convinced she would balk at it.

Tim looked from the readout of her condition to Arren. “Honestly, not too stressed. If she crosses the line—”

“I know,” Arren cut in. “You’ll warn us from out of view, and we’ll forego this for now.”

Sandy rolled her eyes. “If you’re done treating me like a barely-legal virgin…” She moved to stand.

Arren vaulted to his feet and scooped her from the lush sleeping mat.

She met Tim’s gaze and motioned to her position. “Is this really necessary?”

He darkened. “Unfortunately… Yes. The less time you spend on your feet, the better. Arren will carry you wherever you need to go. If he’s not there, for any reason, Raashh will. If it’s an emergency, Daveed or I will carry you, but I can’t imagine Raashh and Arren are both going to be gone at the same time while you’re carrying.”

“Not a chance,” Arren agreed. “Tim… If you would…” He motioned toward the doorway to the center nest.

“On my way.” He left their room.

“What is he doing?” Sandy asked.

“Letting Raashh know you’re ready to be bathed.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Arren headed out after him.

Raashh waited for them in the center nest, but Tim was nowhere to be seen. Daveed and his sons stood to Raashh’s left. Sandy wondered at that, since she knew they weren’t permitted in the pool while she was bathed.

Daveed tipped his head in a formal show. “This welcome would typically start with a formal introduction of you to Raashh, but since that has already happened, we will skip forward a bit.” He stepped closer and bowed deeply. “I welcome the sister to the nest. If you require any comfort or protection, know that every male is at your call to provide for you. You honor us greatly with your presence.”

“Wow. That’s…that’s very nice.” It was. It was an incredibly sweet vow.

He smiled as he straightened. “It is usually said in Xxan, but since you don’t know enough Xxan to understand it yet, I wanted to be sure you understood what we promise you.”

“Thank you.”

He stepped aside and waved his sons forward. They bowed together and the older started speaking. “We welcome the female to the nest. If you require or wish for anything, we are at your call. You honor us greatly with your presence and the young you add to the nest.”

The younger added his comments. “May you carry well and safely,
Hauaa zhhaaia
.” They straightened.

“What is Haa…?” Her cheeks heated. “Um…”

Arren laid a kiss on the top of her head. “It means young mother. We consider motherhood sacred. There are few higher compliments for a woman than being a mother.”

“I take it that means you intend to pamper me even more than you usually do?”

His chuckle was low enough to send a shiver down her spine. “You have
no
idea.”

Raashh appeared at her side. He put his arms out, and Arren settled Sandy in them. Before she could decide if she was uncomfortable being held by the huge elder or not, he’d tucked her under his chin and started a rumbling hum.

The hum was soothing, and in moments, she felt as if she might be falling asleep. It wasn’t the abrupt sleep that pregnancy brought on, more a comfortable drifting.

The humming seemed to come from everywhere at once. Finally, her overtaxed mind supplied the information that all the men and boys were humming along.

Raashh shifted Sandy in his arms, and she settled her cheek against his chest. One hand smoothed its way down her abdomen.

The elder’s rumbling forced her eyes open, but only for a moment. She was too tired to keep them that way.

“What did he say?” she managed.

Arren answered her. “He believes you may be carrying two daughters. There is no scent of male about you.”

She nodded.

The humming rumble continued. Raashh started moving. The humming went softer. After a moment, Sandy decided it was Daveed and his sons moving away.

Raashh returned her to Arren’s arms, and he turned away from his
seir
. The slight splashing of water announced he was entering the pool. The water lapped at her body, warmth tickling up her feet and legs…then her backside.

A heartbeat later, she was floating in Arren’s arms. Raashh’s hand feathered over her cheek. Discussion in Xxan passed between them.

Arren didn’t remove her
S’suuhhea
. He didn’t bring her to her knees in the water. Raashh’s hands went to work, rubbing the clove oil into her neck and shoulders. Arren started at the front of her neck, then worked down her shoulders and chest.

Their discussion went on. Raashh moved to her feet and massaged the oil from there to her knees, while Arren started rinsing the oil from her upper body. Once they were done, Arren lifted her and started walking again.

Sandy licked her lips, trying to make sense of that. “Aren’t we supposed to…?” Her cheeks heated at what she was asking.

Raashh smoothed a hand over her hair, rumbling Xxan she didn’t understand.

Arren translated for him. “The pool will be here for you when you feel up to more. For now, sleep.”

She tried to answer, but she was too tired to form words. Darkness closed around her.

Chapter Twenty-One

Three months later

Sandy sighed as Arren lowered her into the bathing pool in the center nest. The water wasn’t the typical chlorinated water found in public pools. It was heavy in metals and a bit of salt. Though Arren was careful to wash her in a tub of fresh water after a long soak in the bathing pool, there was something soothing about floating in the salt water.

She sighed. “I’m going to miss this.”

Her mate’s brow furrowed a bit, and he rubbed lightly at the huge mound of her stomach. If Sandy didn’t know how far along she was intimately, she’d have guessed someone in her state was due any day. She hadn’t been able to see her feet for the last four weeks.

Not that anyone let her stand independently anymore. She was carried everywhere by Arren or Raashh. Daveed was willing to carry her, but unless it was an emergency, it was considered inappropriate for Arren’s brother to take such liberties.

As it was, living in Raashh’s nest had changed everything about how she and Arren lived. Living with so many people meant they couldn’t walk around the nest naked as they had at Arren’s apartment. The fact that Tim had to change out her IV in the middle of the night meant they couldn’t sleep naked. Her soaks or floats in the bathing pool in the center nest couldn’t even be accomplished naked. Arren had provided dozens of maternity
S’suuhhea
, and she went through at least a four every day, after they were soaked in the pool or had been slept in.

“The bathing pool in the center nest?” he asked, dragging her back to the conversation she’d started.

“Yes. I’ll miss it when we go to SLAL.” The readings from the scan plates had been so encouraging so far, Rayn had decided to give Sandy more time in Raashh’s nest, on the assumption that the nest would be less stressful on her than the space station would be, but there was little doubt he’d order the formal move to SLAL at her next weekly visit. “Two more days.”

“There is a bathing pool in the nursery nest at SLAL. We will have sole use of it for the duration of our stay.”

Sole use.
Did that mean she could bathe without the
S’suuhhea
there? That would be an improvement.

“But it won’t be the same.” If someone had asked her two months ago, Sandy wouldn’t have envisioned she’d become so attached to Raashh’s nest, but she had. To the nest and the family members in it. It seemed even Arren and his family were busy mending old wounds between them.

“As close as we can make it,” he promised.

The babies started pummeling her again, and Sandy smiled. She couldn’t help it. Their vigorous movements meant they were healthy. Considering the circumstances, movement was good.

Arren touched her womb over one beating foot or hand, chuckling. “They are so strong.”

She groaned in memory of them keeping her awake the night before. “I kn—”

“Arren!” Tim’s voice was like a siren going off in a quiet park. He barreled across the still nest toward them and shouted Arren’s name again.

Sandy swiveled her head, trying to get a better look at him. And it struck. The pain sliced through her, doubling her so that she took a faceful of water before Arren managed to scoop her into his arms.

Sandy screamed at the second pain, then panted in an attempt to avoid being swamped by it. Arren turned toward the stairs leading out of the pool, whispering assurances that everything would be fine.

Tim shouted out orders to someone unseen. “Get the shuttle ready. Now!” He launched into the pool in his clothing, readying a hypo for use.

Sandy winced at the injection, then ground her teeth at another pain.

Tim herded Arren out of the pool and toward the shuttle bay. The nest rushed past them at a rate that told Sandy the two men were running. The pains subsided, and she started taking deep breaths, reasoning her rattled nerves back a notch.

“How did this start so suddenly?” Arren demanded.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen labor start this way. Let’s get her aboard the shuttle and worry about the how later. Hopefully the
z’hhabe
will give us enough time to reach the station.”

“What is the usual effectiveness of it?”

Tim shook his head. “It varies too much to guess. It
can
last as long as two hours.”

“Can? Or…what?” Arren raced onto the shuttle, and settled Sandy on a plush mat Daveed was smoothing on the carpeted floor.

Tim pulled down a kit he’d stored in the shuttle days earlier, every muscle tense.

“Carew!” Arren barked at him.

He hesitated in prepping a new IV. His expression told Sandy that this could end badly. “I’ve seen it wear off in fifteen minutes.”

Arren gaped at him.

Daveed’s hand closed on Arren’s shoulder. “We can have you to SLAL in less than that,” he vowed.
“Go, Raashh!”
He secured the shuttle doors from outside and thumped on the side of the shuttle to let his
seir
know they were ready to fly.

The momentary lightheadedness told Sandy that Raashh had engaged the anti-grav systems on land, probably in an attempt to spare her the usual gravitational pull of take-off. She supposed they were in flight just afterward, but with no sense of movement to cue her in, she couldn’t be sure of that.

Tim hung the new IV, and Sandy stared at it, her heart hammering. It wasn’t the yellowish color of nutrient base. The bag looked suspiciously like Xxanian-mix blood.

As if he was reading her thoughts, Tim squeezed her hand. “Calm down, Sandy. It will strengthen the three of you for labor and delivery. Your blood chemistry has changed, due to both being mated and carrying Xxanian young. Arren’s blood won’t harm you.”

“Blood?” She’d never heard of them giving blood before someone was bleeding.

He injected something into the IV line, and heat raced up her arm instead of the usual chill of an IV. “We have to give you a shot of hormone. It will help mature the babies in the little time we have left.”

To help them breathe.
She nodded.

“We’ve been using small amounts of it for the last few weeks, but we’d hoped to have another month.”

“Can’t you stop labor?” Arren interrupted. “Human doctors can stop human labors.”

“We can slow it down, if we reach the station before it’s too late.”

“Too late for—”

Sandy gasped at the feeling of something coursing down her thighs. She levered herself up, pushing past Arren’s gentle attempt at restraint. There was no mistaking the Kelly green staining the mat. “The amniot. My water has broken.”

There was a moment of tense silence.

“Too late?” Arren asked.

Tim nodded. “We have to reach the station as soon as possible. These babies are going to be born today, like it or not.”

Arren helped Sandy back down to the mat. She took calming breaths, praying to any god that would listen that her babies were mature enough to survive. She didn’t doubt that Arren’s killing rage at losing one or both would be more than either of them could bear.

****

Arren was certain they would reach SLAL without further incident when the situation took a turn for the worse. Sandy hadn’t had any further contractions. The babies were moving lightly under his hand. He would have described the situation as stable. Until the moment Sandy screamed in pain.

Tim stared at her in shock for a single heartbeat. He whipped around and scanned his gaze down the tracking plate, shaking his head, muttering under his breath.

“What is it?” Arren demanded.

“I wish I knew. It’s not contractions. It’s—” He turned to look at Arren, but his gaze snapped to Sandy, and his face lost all color.

Arren followed his line of sight, his heart stuttering at the sight of Sandy gasping for breath. She grasped at his wrist, and Arren wrapped his hand around it, encouraging her to hold it if she needed to. Her grip surprised him.

Tim moved abruptly to one side, coming back with the medical kit. He rummaged through it, his hands unsteady. Arren’s question of what was wrong ended when Tim shouted out orders to Raashh.

“Whatever speed we’re at, double it. She’s bleeding.”

Arren snapped a look Tim’s direction, focusing on the healing cloth he held pressed between her thighs. It wasn’t a little blood. The cloth was soaked, and he was preparing a second.

In the background, he could hear his
seir
comming updates on Sandy’s condition and their flight path to SLAL.